No, not at all. Itâs all just a game and we had a really good laugh. I know, it sounds bizarre â weâre a perverse lot, actors. I think it was tough for Olivia [Colman] and Eddie [Marsan] when they filmed the rape scene but they were able to be horrible during the scene and then itâs over, like a bad dream.

Youâve played damaged men before. Do you get lost in the role?

No. Jesus â when youâre playing someone as angry and tormented as Joseph is, you do it for the time it takes to do the scene. If you got consumed in those kind of parts youâd be certifiable. Youâd have to be a complete f**king lunatic â heâs in too much pain. So no, I donât do method; lifeâs too short.

What do you use to take yourself into that mindset?

You just have to imagine, if your life had turned out like your characterâs life, how might you feel about it? The assumption is that itâs more difficult to play emotionally charged roles than, say, a Bond baddie. But Iâd argue itâs harder to do a Bond baddie because thatâs not connected to anything youâve experienced. There are not many people who have a button under their desk that lets you drop someone into a pool of sharks.

Is this sort of film a way for the middle classes to enjoy the misery of those lower down the scale?

It strikes me as a non-argument. The film is not a piece of social realism; if anything, itâs closer in spirit to playwrights like August Strindberg, maybe Harold Pinter. Itâs looking at three souls caught in a cauldron of denial, beliefs, attacks on oneâs beliefs and self-worth. And the way Paddy approached that is almost like a poetic response. The notion that itâs misery porn makes me laugh.

How did you feel about Olivia Colman missing out on a Bafta nomination?

It was a grave omission. Thatâs no offence to those whoâve been nominated but her performance is the best Iâve seen in a British film in the past ten years, an excoriating study of vulnerability and the latent madness that comes from oppression. Not many actors could pull that off. There are so few really great female roles, especially for women of that age; it makes Baftaâs omission all the more surprising.